Free Republic

<p>Linda Wimble smoked cigarettes to relax, usually after hours with friends. She didn't take smoking breaks at work. She didn't smoke on the way to work. She didn't smoke with clients.</p> <p>So when Wimble was told by her Waitsfield employer, Small Dog Electronics, that she had to quit smoking, she was a bit taken aback.</p>

I oppose the death penalty. To be clear, I accept the idea that the death penalty can serve as a deterrent; I am convinced that retribution is the justification and proper purpose of punishment; and I continue to believe in the reality and facticity of evil. Nevertheless, I have come to believe that the abolition of the death penalty could be an important step in building what Pope John Paul II has called a "Culture of Life," and that opposition to capital punishment can serve as a powerful witness to the transcendent dignity of the human person. All that...

HOLMESVILLE, Neb. -- One woman is dead and two remain in critical condition after a house exploded Wednesday night in the tiny southeast Nebraska community of Holmesville. Jack Malicky with the State Fire Marshal's office said investigators are looking at a buried 1,000-gallon butane tank and they are trying to determine what was in it. Investigators the tank may have been leaking. Officers think someone thought the smell was rotten food coming from the basement. "It was suggested that somebody light a candle or incense to take care of the smell," said Ken Winters of the State Fire Marshal's...

<p>LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Ten Commandments lawn signs are flying off the shelves in a show of support for keeping a Ten Commandments monument in a city park, a religious leader said.</p> <p>David Twite, executive director of Crossfire Ministries, a non-denominational youth ministry, has been handing out the signs for nearly two weeks. He said Wednesday he can't keep up with demand.</p>

That's why there's no Palestine   National Post Thursday, June 20, 2002 ADVERTISEMENT Every few days, Palestinians remind the world exactly why they can't yet be trusted with their own country. This week, we got two reminders. On Tuesday, a Palestinian blew up a Jerusalem bus, killing 19 civilians. The next day, another terrorist killed six more of the city's innocents. Just imagine what sort of atrocities these people could pull off from behind the borders of a sovereign Palestine. As William Safire wrote in The New York Times on Monday, a Palestinian state would give Yasser Arafat control...

<p>BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -- State wildlife officers are using doughnuts to try to lure a 200-pound Florida black bear out of the woods after it tried to turn a couple's pet bird into breakfast.</p> <p>The couple awoke Wednesday when they heard a commotion on a back patio. They looked out their window to see the bear trying to get at their caged bird.</p>

Suddenly, Pataki's seat is not so safe June 20, 2002 BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST NEW YORK--Amid the uncertainties of election politics, one 2002 outcome had seemed assured. Republican George Pataki surely would be elected to a third term as governor of New York against either of two flawed Democratic challengers. Yet, the political community now is not so sure because of a newly introduced wild card. The wild card is B. Thomas Golisano, a Rochester, N.Y., billionaire making his third independent run for governor. Since his previous campaigns were ineffective, what reason is there to take him seriously this...

MSNBC NEWS BULLETIN Ex-Boston priest indicted again Shanley faces 16 new counts. Details to come ...

WASHINGTON -- A new study of more than 6 million car loans made by Ford Motor Credit Co. between 1997 and 2001 finds that Hispanic buyers -- regardless of their credit history -- paid significantly higher interest rates than non-Hispanics. The difference averaged roughly $266 more per loan. The study, the largest of several recent surveys of car-loan data for racial or ethnic patterns, attributed the additional costs to extra finance charges tacked on by dealers. The research was paid for by attorneys who are suing Ford Motor Credit of Dearborn, Mich., for alleged discrimination against Hispanic car buyers. The...

<p>Little more than a week after he became the subject of an advertising attack by Gov. Gray Davis, Republican challenger Bill Simon has responded with tough new ads, including one hitting the governor's fund raising.</p> <p>Two new Simon campaign commercials are scheduled to begin today in the Bay Area -- with the ad lambasting the governor's fund-raising practices scheduled to air starting next week, KTVU Channel 2's "Ten O'Clock News" reported Wednesday night.</p>

Mixed reaction in Texas to Supreme Court decision 06/20/2002 Associated Press AUSTIN - Supporters of a ban on executing the mentally retarded in Texas were jubilant Thursday after a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that such executions are unconstitutionally cruel. Opponents, meanwhile, initially reacted with silence, saying they needed more time to review the high court decision. "I'm elated," said state Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Houston Democrat who last year filed a bill to ban the execution of the mentally retarded in Texas that was vetoed by Republican Gov. Rick Perry. Ellis told The Associated Press that he planned...

Colorado Priest To Be Suspended Under New Policy New Charter Adopted By Bishops Posted: 10:33 a.m. MDT June 20, 2002 DENVER -- At least one Roman Catholic priest from Colorado will be suspended over sexual abuse allegations following the adoption of a new policy by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, diocese officials said. The unidentified priest, who is retired from the Pueblo Diocese, will not be allowed to perform ministerial duties while allegations are investigated by law enforcement authorities, officials said. Under a charter adopted last week by United States bishops, if sexual abuse allegations are proved, the priests...

<p>GOP gubernatorial challenger Bill Simon this week began airing his first television commercial of the general election campaign. The ad is in Spanish and is airing on Spanish-language television and radio stations.</p> <p>Gov. Gray Davis began running his first television ads in Southern California last week.</p> <p>Title: "Mistakes."</p>

Iraqi Arms-Buying Spree Geared Toward Quick, Heavy Impact 20 June 2002 Summary Facing a likely U.S. attack as well as an arms shortage, Iraq is scrambling to procure the kinds of weapons systems that would reduce Washington's strategic advantage. This includes air-defense missiles, guidance equipment for surface-to-surface missiles and upgrades for ground forces' weapons. The U.S.-enforced arms embargo will preclude Iraq from getting enough new weapons to stop a U.S. offensive, but several surprises may await U.S. forces if a war does break out. Analysis According to media reports, Iraqi opposition sources have said that a delegation led by Iraqi...

5 Shot, 3 Dead In Whidbey Murder-Suicide June 20, 2002 By KOMO Staff & News Services Tools Email This Story Printer-friendly Version ISLAND COUNTY - A 27-year-old man shot his fiancee and her mother to death and wounded two other people before turning the gun on himself Thursday, a day after the fiancee reported that she suspected him of molesting her young daughter, the Island County sheriff said. Deputies responding to a report of gunfire found the bodies of Marjorie Monnett, 55, of Freeland and her daughter, Holly Swartz, 30, of Clinton in the street in front of Monnett's home....

America's retailers — who for years have been the victims of the tax-and-regulatory crowd in Washington and America's state capitals — are now taking a page from their opponents' playbook. They're using the courts and political stiff-arming to gain economic advantage.The Supreme Court this week disastrously has allowed a class-action suit by many of America's leading retailers against Visa and MasterCard to go forward. The suit — potentially the largest class-action litigation in history — claims that it is unfair for MasterCard and Visa to require stores who accept their cards to live by the companies' rules, such as...

Associated Press EL PASO, Texas (AP) - A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday would allow thousands of part-time foreign students to continue commuting into the United States for school. U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., announced the bill that would create a new kind of visa for such students. In the recent past, part-time foreign students have entered the United States using tourist visas. But those visas are for business and pleasure trips and are not supposed to be used by students. The INS announced earlier this year that it will begin to again enforce...

SAN DIEGO, CA - The City of La Mesa is asking businesses near a smoldering trash fire to evacuate the area. The fire started early Thursday morning at the Edco Recycling Center, 8184 Commercial Street. Officials are planning a more aggressive attack of the fire and expect that to produce more smoke. The heaviest smoke is east of the actual fire location. An evacuation Center is being set up at the La Mesa Community Center. Residents in the surrounding areas are also asked to evacuate.

The US Copyright Office has just issued their new ruling on the copyright fees internet broadcasters wil be forced to pay. Though the fees for web-only broadcasters have been cut in half to match those of broadcast stations, some webcasters will be forced out of business by the fees which will have to be paid retroactively to 1998.No word from the RIAA, but one has to imagine that Hilary Rosen and her crew are applauding the death of yet another competing medium.Additional details are due later on with the release of a late edition of today's Radio & Internet Newsletter.

MS refuses judge's order, antitrust meltdown to follow? By John Lettice Posted: 06/20/2002 at 03:44 EST Two days ago Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued an order demanding a measure of compromise from the warring parties, and yesterday Microsoft refused to comply. So the scene is now set for a collision that could take down the DoJ-Microsoft settlement and set the whole trial roadshow in motion again. CKK was hearing closing arguments in the dissenting states antitrust case yesterday, and had told the states and Microsoft to come up with some flexibility. The states did, Microsoft did not, and although we...